A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US...
Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ represents the full integration of fields of play therapy, attachment/relationship studies, animal behaviour, ethology, animal assisted interventions, and animal welfare.
It is defined as "the integrated involvement of animals in the contest of play therapy, in which appropriately trained therapists and animals engage with clients primarily through systematic playful interventions, with the goal of improving clients' developmental and psychosocial health, while simultaneously ensuring the animal's wellbeing and voluntary engagement. Play and playfulness are essential ingredients of the interaction"
-
Revised from VanFleet, 2004, 2008: VanFleet & Faa-Thompson, 2010, 2017.
This training programme is designed for play therapists, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, and other experienced mental health professionals. The training is relevant to a wide range of clinical, developmental, and educational problems for clients throughout the lifespan. Canine and equine professionals interested in the topic are also welcome to attend. This workshop is an intermediate - level experience in how to conduct AAPT effectively and ethically.
Full information on the Training and Certification programme is at: www.iiaapt.org
Who are we?
Dr Risë VanFleet, PhD, RPT-S, CDBC
Dr. Risë VanFleet is a co-founder in the field of Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ and and director of the International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy®. She is also the President of the Family Enhancement & Play Therapy Center, Inc., in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, an organization specializing in the training and supervision of child, family, and play therapy professionals. She also provides therapy to families and runs the Playful Pooch Program. She is a Licensed Psychologist (PA), Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with 45 years of clinical, supervisory, administrative, and teaching experience.
Her specialties include AAPT, Filial Therapy, chronic medical illness in families, disaster mental health, complex trauma and attachment issues. She has trained and supervised thousands of clinicians internationally. She also provides behavior consultation with family dogs, and a specialty with traumatized, unsocialized dogs.
​
Risë is the author of a number of ground-breaking and award-winning books, and she has authored dozens of articles, chapters, and manuals. Books include (but not limited to) Animal Assisted Play Therapy; co written with Tracie Faa-Thompson, Filial Therapy: Strengthening Parent-Child Relationships Through Play, Child-Centered Play Therapy, The Human Half of Dog Training: Collaborating with Clients to Get Results, and more. Her materials have been translated into several languages. She is also featured in several video-based online courses and the American Psychological Association’s DVD, Filial Play Therapy. She is on the editorial board of two major journals, and is a past president and board chair of the Association for Play Therapy.
​
Dr. VanFleet has been the recipient of 14 national and international awards, including the PPA’s Distinguished Contributions to the Science and Profession of Psychology Award, several awards for her education and training programs such as APT’s Play Therapy Professional Education and Training Award, four awards (Maxwell Awards and Special Awards from the DWAA) for her writing, and an award for her wildlife photography.
Tracie Faa-Thompson, MA, AASW, PGdipNDPT
Tracie Faa-Thompson is a co-founder in the field of Animal Assisted Play Therapy™
She is a specialist social worker in adoption working with traumatised children and their adoptive and foster families in the UK. She is a British Association of Play Therapists Qualified Play Therapist who uses a mix of individual play therapy, Filial Therapy, and group filial methods. Tracie is also a practice teacher of social work students and a trainer in Life Story Work and attachment theory. As a clinical hypnotherapist, Tracie incorporates Eye Movement Integration with Emotional Freedom Technique as an effective approach to trauma. She has conducted training programs for professionals on attachment and resilience, life story work, sibling contact in adoption, introductions of adoptive families and children, Filial Therapy, and AAPT.
​
Hailing from a Scottish/Romany Traveller family, Tracie has grown up with dogs and horses as integral to her native culture. Tracie is a member of the Classical Riding Club and the founder of Turn About Pegasus, an equine-assisted programme for at-risk youth and also for families with a variety of difficulties. She is EAGALA approved for both mental health and equine specialist roles. She is the founder, and for over 20 years, the Chairman of her local Riding for the Disabled Centre until its recent amalgamation with another purpose-built centre.
Tracie is coauthor of the internationally acclaimed book, Animal Assisted Play Therapy, and author and coauthor of dozens of chapters, articles, and training manuals. She regular conducts AAPT work with all ages as part of her Turn About Pegasus program and conducts training in AAPT throughout the world. Tracie has a lifetime of experience of living and working with dogs and horses and over 30 years of working with vulnerable children and families.
Animal Assisted Play Therapy Book
Winner of the 2018 Maxwell Award in the category of best book on the Human-Animal Bond!
​
This book is the culmination of the authors’ combined 75 years of experience working with animals as a part of their therapeutic practice. Professional practitioners, as well as the paraprofessionals who work in tandem with them, will find this book of enormous value. While the focus is on mental health professionals, the approach and methods covered can easily be adapted for use by allied health professionals, such as physical, occupational, speech, and recreational therapists as well as those in the educational field such as teachers and school counselors.
Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ (AAPT) adds the elements of playfulness, humor, and lightness to the therapeutic process, and can be helpful for clients of all ages. It focuses heavily on relationships: how the relationship between therapist and animal must be developed in positive, mutually respectful ways in which the animals have a voice and choice whenever possible. This in turn provides a model for clients to help them strengthen their own relationships, not only with therapy animals and their own companion animals, but within the human relationships in their families and communities. The authors demonstrate how the techniques can be readily applied for dogs, horses, cats, and other animals. Many illustrative case examples are included,
​
To buy the book at a discount, you can email us at: aaptbaseuk@mail.com
The book is £34 plus £4 postage.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
